Japanese architect Shigeru Ban has been named as the laureate of the 2024 Praemium Imperiale for Architecture, given by the Japan Art Association (JAA) under the honorary patronage of HIH Prince Hitachi, younger brother of the Emperor Emeritus of Japan.

The Praemium Imperiale Awards, which cover fields of achievement not represented by the Nobel Prizes, have been given annually since 1989 in the categories of Painting, Sculpture, Architecture, Music, and Theatre/Film. 

Shigeru Ban, a Japanese architect who won the 2014 Pritzker Architecture Prize, is well-known for his creative use of bamboo, paper, and wood in his architectural designs.

Ban, who leads his architectural firm Shigeru Ban Architects, received a 15 million yen honorarium.

At his office in Tokyo, April 2024. Image ©︎ The Japan Art Association / The Sankei Shimbun

He is equally renowned for founding the NPO Voluntary Architects Network (VAN) in 1995 as he is for creating the Centre Pompidou-Metz, Aspen Art Museum, and Mt. Fuji World Heritage Center.  

For almost 30 years, VAN and Shigeru Ban Architects have worked together to provide temporary housing, partition systems, community centers, and places of worship for those affected by natural disasters and armed conflicts in a number of nations, including Rwanda, Syria, Turkey, India, China, Italy, Haiti, and Ban's home country of Japan.

Shigeru Ban's PPS system in Yenisehir Indoor Sports Hall in Mersin. Image © İrem Su Eliaçık, Voluntary Architects’ Network/Facebook

Ban most recently provided Paper Partition Systems for refugee shelters for Ukrainians in Ukraine, Poland and Slovakia, Germany, and France. 

The system, which has been installed in many evacuation centers for significant earthquakes in Japan and the Turkey-Syria earthquake in 2023, ensures residents' privacy. 

Paper Log House prototype at METU Faculty of Architecture. Image © Beril Kapusuz, courtesy of METU Urgent Design Studio

Working with bamboo, paper, and wood in his works, Ban created a Paper Log House for the victims of the Turkey-Syria earthquake. Last year, a Paper Log House prototype was presented at METU Faculty of Architecture, Ankara, Turkey.

Shigeru Ban is currently working on constructing a new surgical wing for the largest hospital in Ukraine, the main hospital in Lviv, which is desperately in need of expanding to accommodate the patient load that has increased exponentially since the Russian invasion.

Christchurch Cardboard Cathedral, 2013. New Zealand. Image ©︎ Stephen Goodenough, Courtesy of Shigeru Ban Architects

French writer, photographer, installation artist Sophie Calle has been awarded for Painting, Taiwanese filmmaker Ang Lee has been awarded for Theatre and Film, Portuguese classical pianist Maria João Pires has been awarded for Music, and Colombian visual artist and sculptor Doris Salcedo has been awarded for Sculpture. 

"All five Laureates of the 2024 Praemium Imperiale awards have taken their land and people as inspiration to create works of profound poetry and impact," said Lord Patten. 

"From Shigeru Ban and Doris Salcedo’s response to conflict and natural disaster to Ang Lee’s meditation on family and love, the Japan Art Association turns the spotlight on five hugely diverse artists whose humanity shines in times of uncertainty and turbulence," Patten added.

Swatch Omega, 2019. Image © Nicolas Grosmond, Courtesy of Shigeru Ban Architects

"The 2024 edition of Praemium Imperiale welcomes the first ever laureates from Taiwan and Colombia," said the Japan Art Association. 

"Twice winner of the Academy Award for Best Director (the first non-white director to receive the award), Ang Lee’s filmography encompasses Eat Drink Man Woman (1994), Sense and Sensibility (1995), Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000), Hulk (2003), Brokeback Mountain (2005), Life of Pi (2012)."

Apart from the Praemium Imperiale Awards, the Komunitas Salihara Arts Center, Indonesia's first private cultural complex devoted to promoting visual arts, music, dance, theater, literature, and film, has been granted the 5 million Yen (approximately £25,000) Grants for Young Artists, chosen this year by the Asian Nomination Committee.  

The 3,800-square-meter Center was established in 1995 in Jakarta during the military government of the time. It has a black box theater, dance and music studios, an art gallery, a store, and a café.  

Centre Pompidou Metz, 2010. Image ©︎ ShunKambe, The Japan Art Association

The Komunitas Salihara Arts Center was founded with the goals of preserving freedom of speech, honoring diversity, and developing creative and intellectual assets. Each year, the center presents over 100 events.

Six International Advisors provide a list of nominees to the Japan Art Association, from which the Laureates are chosen. 

Toyota City Museum, 2024. Image ©︎ The Japan Art Association / The Sankei Shimbun

The International Advisors for the Awards and their committees are dedicated to searching beyond their own national borders for trailblazing artists to recommend to the Japan Art Association in order to uphold the Awards' mandate to choose candidates who have made a significant international impact in their particular field.

Previous British winners include Zaha Hadid, Steven Holl, Rafael Moneo, Tod Williams And Billie Tsien, Glenn Murcutt, and Diébédo Francis Kéré. 

The top image: Shigeru Ban ©︎ The Japan Art Association / The Sankei Shimbun. 

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